Construction has begun for a major expansion to a Patton Township equine hospital that will create the region’s only full-service equine surgical facility.
“I’ve been working on since 2016 and I really do feel like I finally found the right group of people, the right township, the right piece of land,” Dr. Catherine Radtke, owner of Abington Equine Hospital, said during a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday morning. “It’s going to come together and I think it’s going to be great.”
Radtke was joined by state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, and state Rep. Rich Irvin, R-Spruce Creek Township, who helped facilitate a $370,000 state grant from the Keystone Communities Program for the $2.4 million project.
A $370,000 state grant will assist Abington Equine Hospital in Patton Township with its planned development of the region’s only full-service equine surgical facility.
State Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte, and Rep. Rich Irvin announced the grant from the Keystone Communities Program, at a press conference on Thursday with Abington owner Dr. Catherine Radtke.
Once completed, the overall $2.4 million project will allow Abington Equine Hospital to provide an array of advanced surgical procedures, with five stalls for horses, two surgery rooms, an examination area, consultation room, treatment rooms, offices, laundry and other support spaces.
Plans also include a 12,800-square-foot equine arena for evaluating horses before and after surgery. The arena will not be open to the public, nor will any of the facilities be rented out.
A full-service equine surgical hospital that would be the only facility of its kind in the region is in the works for Patton Township.
Dr. Catherine Radtke, owner of Abington Equine Hospital, plans to create a 6,300-square foot equine surgical hospital on a 25-acre parcel at 156 Abington Lane, off of West Buffalo Run Road/Route 550.
Patton Township Planning Commission reviewed the final land development plans on Monday, recommending only minor changes. The plans next will go to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
Founded in Clarks Summit, Abington Equine Hospital expanded in 2017 to Patton Township, where it offers ambulatory services and clinic care out of the existing white barn on the same property where the new facility is proposed. Currently it provides general medical and reproductive services as well as routine and minor emergency surgical services.